Global Cultural Awareness

This program enhances participants' cultural self-awareness and emphasizes the effects of culture and cultural differences on employees' interactions with international counterparts. It also suggests strategies for communicating more effectively across corporate, regional, or national borders.

Working and Managing Across Cultures

Offers a hands-on overview of the challenges involved in working and managing people abroad or from a home base: decision-making, leadership, consensus building and teamwork, task-orientation versus relationship building. It is particularly relevant for employees involved in international management or global development projects.

Distance Communication Across Cultures

Analyzes the challenges of communicating with international colleagues, clients or business partners via letter, fax, phone, e-mail or video conference. Offers strategies and guidelines to avoid major communication roadblocks and improve distance relationships.

Intercultural / Global Teambuilding

Designed to assist multicultural and cross-functional teams during the various stages of a project. This program helps team members identify their potential for cultural synergy and enhance their capacity to work together towards commonly established goals and objectives. It covers key areas such as definition of goals, decision-making process and and meeting patterns, communication styles and reaching agreements.

American Cultural Awareness for Impatriates

This group training program aims to assist incoming expatriate family members, both employees and spouses, in their cultural adaptation process of living and working in a new environment. Beyond general concepts of culture and cross-cultural communication, it allows participants to assess and explore sensitive areas between them and their local counterparts. Proactive strategies are offered to anticipate and prevent misunderstandings.

Cross-Cultural Research

Qualitative or quantitative research projects cover, for example, the adaptation process and challenges of expatriate families in the United States, or a comparative approach to diversity between the US and a specific region of the world.

Corporate and National Cultures Audit

Analyzes the influence of corporate and national values, norms and beliefs upon the state of the company and its performance. Provides recommendations for a smoother and more rewarding cooperation between merging entities or partners involved in a large scale project.

Individual Coaching and Consulting

Assists individuals and their companies with specific management projects and assignments involving cross-cultural issues.

Specialized Services

Drawing upon its in-depth knowledge and expertise of Western European and North American cultures, SoCoCo Intercultural provides the following programs and services.

European or American Cultural Awareness

In addition to a general cultural awareness component, this program offers an overview of the values, beliefs, and attitudes that inform the behaviors and thought patterns of people from a specific culture both in everyday life and in the workplace.

European or American Business Cultures

Gives an overview of international business practices such as work ethic, management and leadership styles, decision-making, negotiations, presentations, performance appraisal, women in management and business etiquette for a specific country or region.

Country or Region-specific Briefing

Offers an overview of the political, administrative, legal, and social environment of a foreign country or region. Helps participants grasp their counterparts' "daily reality." Specifically designed for companies who recently acquired, were acquired by, or merged with a foreign partner.

Cultural Adjustment Program for Employees and their Families

This specific program assists employees and their families in settling in a foreign country and overcoming the effect of culture shock. Provides an overview of cultural values and attitudes in the new country as well as information on housing, education, shopping, local services and resources. This program is also available for children and young adults. It can include destination assistance and follow-up by a local counselor if necessary.

Reentry Workshop

Prepares employees and their families for the unexpected challenges that they may face upon their return. Analyzes the effect of returning to one's home culture and assists in the design of proactive strategies aimed at smoothing out the transition. Provides a list of resources dealing with the reentry move.

Business Negotiations

Assists in the negotiation of international deals and acts as a cultural adviser in order to facilitate understanding of the other party's point of view.

Intercultural Conflict Resolution

Assists in the resolution of conflicts involving two or more international parties.

Examples of Training Programs

Sector: Pharmaceutical industry

"Effective Cross-cultural Communication in a Global Environment:" Workshop conducted for a research group composed of 26 nationalities working on a global drug development project. Insights included an approach to human relations and what it means to have a global mindset.

Sector: Pharmaceutical industry

"Global Teambuilding:" Three-day training conducted for a group of clinical researchers from Europe, the US, and Asia. The emphasis was on building trust and effective processes across time zones while dealing with differing industry regulations.

Sector: Packaging industry

Presentation of an extensive briefing on French society and culture encompassing political, governmental, higher education and business areas. This training was offered to a total of more than a hundred executives of an American company that acquired a major industry player in France. Conversely, a briefing about American culture was conducted in France for middle- and top-level managers.

Sector: Pharmaceutical industry

"Swedish and American Cultures at Work:" Two-day workshop conducted with a team of US and Sweden-based researchers from four nationalities. Highlights included an awareness of each country's major cultural influences and a group-generated list of guidelines for successfully working with one another.

Sector: Chemical industry

Presentation of several "French Business Culture" sessions for a team of American, British and Australian employees setting up a global information system with their French counterparts. Facilitation of an "American Cultural Awareness" seminar for the French expatriates involved in the project. This included both information about daily living in the U.S. and an overview of the major cultural differences between France and Anglo-Saxon countries.

Sector: Hotel industry

"Working and Managing Across Cultures" seminar for a group of French, Hispanic and North American employees working together in a French hotel in California. This program included general awareness elements as well as more specific interactive exercises and small group discussions aimed at improving understanding and relations between the three cultural groups.

Sector: Electronic components

Presentation of a "Working and Negotiating with Europeans" session to a large group of American sales representatives involved in negotiating and selling to Western European clients.

Sector: Pharmaceutical industry

Facilitation of a seminar on American cultural and social awareness for a group of French expatriate spouses. Topics included, among others, daily living, social interactions, education and child-rearing practices. This seminar was followed by a "Reentry to France" program in order to prepare participants to the challenges of returning to one's home culture.

Example of Research Projects

Sector: Telecommunications equipment

Analysis of European expatriate families adapatation process to the US, on a personal, family and professional levels. Through questionnaire administration and qualitative interviews with employees and their spouses, we assessed the degree to which culture, both national and corporate, affect the behaviors and attitudes of families and the management practices of employees in a large European multinational company operating across the United States. A full and a summary report were provided to the client, with recommendations to facilitate the expatriates' integration and suggestions to improve the relocation process and the in-house services available upon arrival.